“All actual life is encounter.” - Martin Buber

Eight years ago at my first Relateful session I experienced the first actual encounter of my adult life, outside of a romantic context.

Here we were, a room full of thoughtful, growth oriented people, simply being with each other.

Some people were sharing their curiosities or observations, others their joy or anger, and some were simply silent.

And yet, there was a palpable sense that people were meeting. People were slowing down enough to notice the quality of connection that was happening right here, right now. And aspects of experience that were normally ignored or repressed were able to be explored.

I had never let myself experience that before.

Many years later Annabeth and I continue practicing, and now facilitating this practice because we are inspired by how fully it invites us to meet ourselves and others.

We have grown our capacities to express and let in love, to set and update healthy boundaries, and to be fully present with others in hardship, without needing others to feel any differently for us to be with them.

If you are wanting more than a controlled life where you feel protected but on some deep level alone, a more full and vibrant way of relating, this immersion is a powerful opportunity to practice a different way forward. A way where you get to cultivate trust in your awareness and resilience in uncertainty, through the process of being with others.

Annabeth and I’s souls sing at the thought of you joining us for a weekend of moving towards truth, love, and presence together.

Why Come?

You might be someone who:

• Wants to be more honest about what is real for you, and more able to stay for the impact.
• Hopes to cultivate more skill in honoring both yourself and others.
• Notices how quickly you try to understand, fix, manage, or control what is happening in connection.
• Is drawn to spaces where no one has to perform being okay, certain, or resolved.
• Is curious what happens when we slow down enough to notice what is already here, rather than forcing connection toward what we think it should be.

This immersion is for people who want to practice being fully human together, while honoring their own pace, discernment, and responsibility in connection.

What We’ll Explore

Across experiential large-group and small group sessions, we’ll explore:

• What connection is already like, right here and right now.
• Honest and discerning expression, including the impact our choices have.
• Letting love, fear, anger, sadness, desire, and uncertainty be part of what we can be with together
• The beauty and challenge of owning expectations for what connection should look like and then sticking around to discover what is actually possible.
• Building capacity through both courageous engagement and rest.

We’ll offer structure and invitations toward presence, truth, and love, while leaving room for the experience to emerge from what is actually here.

What May Become Available

Each person’s experience will be different, and the immersion will be shaped by the particular group that gathers. Some possibilities include:

• More trust in what is happening right now, even when you do not fully understand it.
• A greater capacity to stay with beauty, challenge, intensity, disconnection, and repair.
• More freedom to move toward connection, move back, or stay where you are in a way that honors your own ethic.
• A felt sense that more of your experience can be included without needing to control, fix, or resolve it.
• New possibilities for connection that emerge beyond what any one person could have planned.
• A deeper sense of how courage and rest can both build our capacity for being fully human together.

At times, these spaces can reveal something more whole than our individual perspectives could fathom. Through slowing down enough to notice what is already here, and staying open to what happens next, we give life and connection a chance to be different.

What Not to Expect

This is not a therapy session or group healing experience, although healing can occur. It's a group exploration of truth, love, and awareness, created by the people who are present.

We don't promise comfort, breakthroughs, resolution, or specific outcomes. Instead, we create conditions where awareness, curiosity, honesty, and care can emerge in relationship. 

These experiences can include disconnection, uncertainty, and discomfort, and are often described as “a gym for emotional health.” By attending you acknowledge you are able to take self responsibility for your own physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing throughout the gathering.

You will never be required to share beyond your boundaries or participate in any exercise. We welcome both challenge and nourishment as valuable parts of being human.

We value honest expression, and we also stay attentive to its impact on others. This is a space for mindful connection, not expression at any cost. If a participant's behavior is continually moving away from relational presence, or we are not capable of maintaining our ability to facilitate Relatefulness in connection with the attendee, we may pause or redirect the moment, or ask the person to leave the immersion.

Details

🕰 Date & Times: January 22-24, 2027, Friday 6-9PM, Sat & Sun 10AM-6PM

🗺️ Location: Greatwoods Zen, 2631 Buckleigh Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215

🥑 Food: We will break for a 90 min lunch around 1pm. Bring your own lunch, light snacks will be provided.

🙏 Price: $365 Early Bird until January 7th. $445 Full Price after January 7th.

If cost is a barrier, reach out to jamesdial99@gmail.com to discuss possible solutions. 

🌱Add a 60-minute coaching session with James or Annabeth for only $60, available for 30 days after the immersion. Use it to integrate what emerged, bring insights into everyday life, or get support with the transition back home.

🧍Participant cap: 15

📩 Questions: jamesdial99@gmail.com

About Your Facilitators

James Dial is the steward of Relateful Charlotte, devoted to building local spaces of real connection where presence and growth intertwine. He is known for his warm, earnest, heartfelt presence. He is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Talent and Organizational Development.

Annabeth Novitzki “is a midwife for voice.” She has a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance, and has been teaching private voice, speech, and music lessons for over 20 years. Since 2015, she has been incorporating Relatefulness skills into how she works with the voice, and guiding people to fully, genuinely express themselves. What she’s most trained and experienced in is listening in exquisite detail, feeling myriad subtle sensations in her body, and communicating deep things that can’t be seen.

If you are curious to hear Annabeth and James speak about being with, watch here: https://youtu.be/Pzt0MHsRGKg?si=AX7HIkQtiTJKNhLh

Practicing Being Fully Human

Annabeth and I are in awe of how practicing Relatefulness has grown our willingness to live in congruence, our capacity to rupture and repair, and our trust in life. And we are exceptionally grateful to get to practice being fully human with you, and to meet ourselves in the process of meeting you.

If you want to more fully embody the world you want to invite more of, we would love you to join us in January for a weekend of presence, truth, and love.